Hands-on approach: Onn Hafiz speaking at the state assembly about the Causeway congestion issues plaguing the Johor-Singapore border.
ISKANDAR PUTERI: More than 70 visits, including unannounced ones, have been made by Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi to the two land Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complexes here in his bid to address the congestion issues plaguing the Johor-Singapore border.
The Johor Mentri Besar told the state assembly here that he has visited Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI) CIQ at Johor Baru 60 times, and the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex (KSAB) CIQ 14 times.
“I and Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh (state works, transportation and infrastructure committee chairman) will continue going down to the ground until the issue is resolved.
“There are two reasons for us to choose such an approach.
“First, we know that some 300,000 Malaysians are using these two crossings almost daily to earn a living. Each individual taking on the commute typically has a wife or a husband, and at least two children.
“This means that the issue is indirectly affecting 1.2 million Johoreans, which is 30% of the Johor population.
“Every hour they spend waiting out the congestion is an hour of their time with their families wasted,” Onn Hafiz said during the state assembly sitting here yesterday.
He added that the second reason was to ensure that Johor’s economy will not suffer due to the congestion at the two land crossings.
“If we could solve this issue, we will be able to boost investor confidence and encourage more tourists to visit us,” he said.
Onn Hafiz said the state government’s effort has borne some fruit after a China-based company pledge to invest another RM100mil in Johor.
“The company opened up its factory in Johor with a RM300mil investment, which has led to creation of some 600 job opportunities.
“The company has also expressed its appreciation to the state government over the improvement in traffic flow between Johor and Singapore, and will soon be investing another RM100mil to expand its business here,” he said in response to questions from Datuk Seri Hasni Mohammad (BN-Benut), Datuk Samsolbahari Jamali (BN-Semarang), Andrew Chen Kah Eng (PH-Stulang), Datuk Zulkurnain Kamisan (BN-Sri Medan), Datuk Najib Samuri (BN-Parit Yaani) and Liow Cai Tung (PH–Johor Jaya) on congestion at the border.
On a separate matter, the Johor state assembly also approved an additional allocation of RM16.97mil during the one-day sitting here.
Onn Hafiz said the additional budget was derived from the Consolidated Fund for services expenditure for the year 2023, which was not fully allocated by the Supply (2023) Enactment 2022.
He added that the additional budget comprised RM6.36mil meant for the state secretary’s office, RM10.6mil for the Social Welfare Department, and RM16,000 for the Segamat district office.
